Learning Centers
Your child’s preschool classroom itself is also an invaluable teaching tool. The space has been carefully designed to delight, intrigue and inspire young learners. Each classroom is divided into Learning Centers such as Language and Circle Time, Blocks and Creativity and Art. Each center invites your child to explore and marvel at the wonders of the world around him/her. No matter which area captures your child’s interest on a particular day, he’s/her’s developing important skills. Here are some key examples:
Circle Time
This is where your child starts their day through meaningful experiences like storytelling, singing songs, Bible lessons, show and tell and matching games. Children learn to express their ideas, associate the written word with the spoken word and discover their world independently.
Art
Children experience art through the freedom of touching, feeling, pulling, twisting, tearing, pasting, bending, scraping, cutting, pounding, shaping, and so much more. They are developing a feel for forms, balance, line, color, and shape as well as gaining practice in problem solving. They are learning about various relationships, sharpening their powers of observation, and beginning the process of logical thinking, and developing motor skills. Art is a hands-on activity for your child.
Bible Story
We are Christian based and teach bible stories weekly and practice Christian attitudes. Our beliefs are that the Bible is the Word of God. This also means in school it is important to teach the important things of God. Such as: God loves them, God wants them to obey him. We teach stories from the Old Testament, such as Daniel, Jonah & Moses and the new testament of Jesus’ birth through his resurrection. We always have a life application so they understand that the stories are more than history.
Blocks
This is an area where children can stack and count blocks to help them learn measurement, size, weight and number concepts. They also build hand-to-eye coordination, and develop control of their wrists, hands and fingers. They will develop problem-solving skills through trial and error. If a block structure falls, your child might try it a different way until satisfied with the results.
Dramatic Play
We have dress-up clothes, props and child-sized furniture that invite children to make believe. They try new careers, learn to share, make friends and express different emotions. Children also learn life skills like turning knobs on and off or buttoning and zipping clothes.
Math
Children learn sorting and counting skills, putting materials in order and patterning. Math is a way of finding things out, a way of problem solving. Through manipulating small materials, children will also begin to understand basic concepts such as big/little, large/small, same and different.
Science
Children have the opportunity to have hands-on, real-life activities that encourage a sense of discovery. The activities include playing with living things, using magnets, magnifiers, sand and water tables.
As your child moves from center to center, his or her preschool teacher will act as a guide who will listen to ideas, applaud progress and motivate your child to envision and think in new ways.